Cutting down bfing - how??

[goingnowherefast]

Sorry - I just replied on the other thread, and realised I could really do woth some advice myself on this! Copied and pasted..

I wanted to continue bf until dd was 2. We had a really shaky start and I very nearly gave up in the early weeks, but now it's going well, (she's 11 months now) but I would really like a little more freedom as she still wants to feed very frequently. I am going back to work soon too. She won't take other drinks though, so I feel a bit stuck into providing all her liquid and it's getting me down a bit.

In an ideal world I'd love to cut it right down now, but continue with maybe 3 feeds a day until she's 2 (with 2 feeds a day on work days and a cup of milk substituting the other feed then). But this isn't looking likely unless I want to use harsh methods which I don't. So I feel I'm stuck into being a milk machine for the near future!

Does anyone have any tips for cutting down bf when you have a total milk monster still at nearly a year? Has anyone successfully (mother-led) reduced feeds down to just 2 or 3 a day without much upset around this time?
thank you

watching too.

Is there anyone who could take her for a few hours while you do your own thing? My dd2 always went fine without feeding from me when I wasnt there - she never looked for milk when I wasnt there and happily took a drink from a cup - though to this day she wont drink milk and I stopped feeding her at just over a year and she is just over 2 now.

You could try amusing her otherways or putting her in her pram and going for a walk at times where she would normally look for a feed from you.

Yelnats - ty, yes there is - she could be with her dad for a few hours at the weekend and I could go out. I think she'd just demand lots when I get back though! And the night feeds - agggh!
We have tried me going out, only for about 3 hours though - she refused any liquid from her cup and got whingy after 3 hours when I was on my way home apparently.

How often does she feed during the day? Does she ask or do you automatically offer?

I dropped DD's mid-morn feed when she was about 9/10 months (not very long ago). I was offering and she was just having it. I stopped offering and she didnt notice, so gave her some water and a snack.

She is on 3 a day now (just over 12 mo), although I am gradually weaning her off the mid-afternoon feed. For about a week I have only been offering her 1 side (from about 8 months I started offering both sides again). Today I didnt bother offering and she didnt notice.

It's a pain if she isn't drinking any other fluid. Have you tried a straw? DD loves drinking from a straw.

I will try distracting her, could work.. I worry she's thirsty though

Don't forget that you get fluid from food as well... I notice that when DD has courgettes her nappies are a lot wetter.

Ty babyocho. I used to automatically offer but I've been waiting until she asks. Now at 11 months she feeds at (about) 7 am, 10 am, 3 pm, 6 pm, 8pm (before bed) and then usually 12am, 2am and 5am!

I have tried a straw, she doesn't really get it..

Yes, good point - she does like melon too!

She still seems to be feeding quite a lot. Does she drink anything else at all in the day? What happens through the night? Does she wake up and look for a feed or do you automatically offer?

She drinks a couple of sips of water here and there but usually refuses although I try and offer her cup frequently. We have tried a feed of formula milk too instead of a breastfeed a few times but again, no luck.

In the night, she wakes and whinges, I try and leave her but 9 times out of 10 it escalates. If it's only been a short time since the last feed, I or her dad try and rock her instead which sometimes helps but usually it's just the feed she wants. Sometimes she doesn't have one at 2am but usually it's the 3 night feeds still.

Thanks for all the advice

goingnowherefast - my ds2 is now 10 months and I'm also keen to reduce his feeds (currently around 6am, 9am, 12 noon, 5pm, 8pm and 1 overnight usually around 2am). For the last few days I've just stopped offering the 5pm feed and although he has whinged a bit it actually hasn't been too bad.

With the other drinks, ds2 doesn't like to be given a drink but I've found that if I just leave a beaker lying around and ignore it, he will (eventually) go and help himself. It is worrying, but I've no other ideas how to do it!

Anyway, I thought I'd give him a week or so to get used to no feed at 5pm and then see if I could get away with dropping another one. So far, dropping the 5pm feed hasn't meant he has woken up more at night, but he has eaten his dinner better (usually around 6.30pm or so) and he has settled down for his bedtime feed at 8pm more quickly and I feel fed better then.

My dd was very slow to get the hang of drinking from a cup, but she got there eventually. I can't think now what 'helped' other than just keep offering her water. I do remember that when I first left her (with her dad for a day at 9 months) she didn't really eat or drink anything. When I started leaving her with him regularly she gradually ate and drank more and more. It was exactly the same when she started nursery at 18 months. So maybe rather than the odd weekend, maybe it needs to be more regular for a while so that she can get into her stride of drinking when you're not around.
Something I didn't try but have a friend who did was to offer diluted juice which, surprise, surprise, was more appealing than water!

Thanks all.
Academicmum - I'll try the beaker thing, she probably would go for it if it was lying around! Glad dropping feeds is going ok for you.
Rosebud05 - good idea. I'll try and make it a regular thing! I don't really want to go down the route of offering juice yet but will keep it in mind.

She managed to go through 24 hours with just 6 feeds yesterday as I tried some of your suggestions, so that's ok for now. I definitely don't want to stop breastfeeding, just cut down!